The Blog of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference

MARAC Operations Manual is now a Wiki

Does anyone know of or remember the infamous MARAC “green binder?” That’s where once upon a time MARAC tried to keep the written record of what the heck each officer, caucus representative, committee chair, or any of the other leaders are supposed to do. Yes there is the MARAC website, but it only contains a smattering of this information, mainly in the form of official bylaw speak, and not an actual list of responsibilities and duties, and how they are to accomplish their myriad tasks.

The problem has been, however, that over the years things change, but the binder never did. So, over the past few years, an attempt has been made to update all of this information so that it’s timely. As a result, every person in a MARAC leadership position has been responsible for making sure their respective section is clear and accurate.

So now that we have an up-to-date “MARAC Operations Manual,” it does no good to continue to live in paper in our Google and Facebook world. Rather, this information should be shared broadly and so now has a new life as a wiki and is open to all. Having an up-to-date operations manual visible to MARAC members can especially serve our Nominations & Elections Committee because one of the concerns they always hear from potential nominees for ANY position in MARAC is “I don’t know what they do.” Granted, the bylaws as listed on the MARAC website codifies most of the positions but in terms of strict bylaws language, and not really about what the job really entails and exactly what it is responsible for.

As one of my duties as the recently departed MARAC Chair, I assigned to myself the creation of the wiki and want to truly thank all those chairs of every MARAC committee/caucus and on down the line that worked with me to see that the wiki truly reflects how MARAC is run today. I encourage all MARAC members to take a look at it, if nothing else to see for themselves what it is that we do at so many levels. And heck, maybe it will inspire you too to run for MARAC Chair!!

About MARAC

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) is a professional organization for archivists who live and work in the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and West Virginia, and in the District of Columbia.